New From Emmett Hughes: Two Long Island Dates and the Story Since What Will I Do
A Huntington Songwriter Who Has Sung with Laura Press Since Seventh Grade Keeps Moving
What Will I Do came out as a single on 19 February 2024, a contemporary pop and funk record built on horns, shimmering guitars and a reggae lilt. Emmett Hughes, a singer-songwriter from Huntington, New York, wrote it as a confession of devotion to his partner that also owns up to his deepest fears. More than two years on, the song still opens the door to a career that is busier now than when it was released.
Emmett Hughes’s single sits in the playlist below with our contemporary pop picks. His full run of coverage is collected on his artist profile. What Will I Do came to this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Press play on the horns first, then keep reading for the road since.
Fifty Years of Singing With Laura Press Took Emmett Hughes From Huntington to What Will I Do
Before the singles, there was a friendship. Hughes and Laura Press, the other singer in his band, have sung and played music together since seventh grade. That is roughly fifty years, as he told Patch ahead of a 2025 show. The partnership still sits at the centre of the live band.
Music has never been his only work. Hughes is a chiropractic physician by profession. The same Patch profile lists gardening, sailing and a blistering tennis serve among his other pursuits. That background matters for the records. These are songs written alongside a full working life.
His influences explain the mix. He names Bob Marley, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Pat Metheny, Crowded House, Joe Jackson and Frank Zappa. His own songs move between reggae, indie rock, funk, soul and blues. Hughes put out his first album in 2019. Since then, his recent records have been self-released, with his own name on the copyright line.
What Will I Do Turned a Three-Track Release Into a Run of Weekly Singles
The release history of What Will I Do is a small lesson in self-release craft. The song first appeared on 19 December 2023, as one of three tracks on a short self-released set. Then Hughes split that set apart. Each song went out again as a standalone single, a week apart, and What Will I Do led the way on 19 February 2024. Three weeks after the last of them, on 25 March 2024, the run led into a 12-track second album.
The logic is simple. Three songs released together get one moment of attention. Three songs released a week apart get three. For a self-released artist with no label pushing the record, that is a sensible way to stretch a small release.
The record itself rewards the second look. It runs just over four minutes, with an engaging rhythm, shimmering guitars and horns around Hughes’s deep, rich voice. The groove is pop-funk with a reggae offbeat. The lyric stays serious while the band keeps moving, which is why the song works as a love song and as a groove record at the same time.
Since What Will I Do, Emmett Hughes Has Taken His Songs to Stony Brook With More Dates Ahead
The next chapter played out on stage. On 13 April 2025, Hughes performed at the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in Stony Brook Village. The hour-long set was free with admission, according to BroadwayWorld. He built a 15-song setlist of originals for it and warned Patch he might have to trim it to fit the hour.
New recordings kept coming as well. In October 2025, HypeHub Magazine covered I’ll Always Be Around, hearing vocals that float over an elaborate arrangement and a message of loyal love and understanding. That theme links straight back to What Will I Do. The earlier song asks what happens if love is lost. The later one promises to stay.
What comes next is already on the calendar. Hughes returns to the Hall of Fame in Stony Brook on Sunday 11 October 2026 for a 3:30pm set. The Emmett Hughes Band then plays My Father’s Place in Roslyn on Friday 27 November 2026 at 8pm. He has also said he intends to write a song about the time he sailed to Block Island, so the sailor in his biography may yet reach a record.
Where Bob Marley, Crowded House and Talking Heads Meet in the Emmett Hughes Groove
His own influences are the clearest guide for new listeners. Bob Marley set a devotional love song to a relaxed groove on Is This Love in 1978, with the I Threes singing around him. What Will I Do carries the same pairing of a loving lyric and an easy offbeat. Crowded House built Don’t Dream It’s Over around a melody that holds on to hope through uncertainty, and Hughes aims for that same balance. Talking Heads folded funk grooves into rock on Remain in Light in 1980, and the pop-funk underneath this single comes from that side of his record collection.
This record suits listeners who like contemporary pop with a groove under it, and fans of reggae-tinged soft rock. It also suits Long Island readers looking for a local songwriter to catch live this autumn, and anyone who prefers an artist with a long story behind the songs.
IndieMusic.News curator team: “The joyful backing vocals near the close are the smartest choice on What Will I Do. They answer a lyric about fear with company, so a love song about uncertainty ends on a lift.”
Where to Hear What Will I Do and Follow Emmett Hughes Before the Roslyn Show
Stream What Will I Do and follow Emmett Hughes on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and SoundCloud. Between shows, keep up with him on his YouTube channel, Instagram and Facebook, and check the official site for the latest gig details.
